Matthew 24:32-44 A Working Title It is not uncommon for a movie to be made without a title. One likely reason is that the screenwriter or the director or producers do not know exactly how it will end, or how they want to make it end. And sometimes the marketing people are still trying to come up with a catchy title- even after filming is completed, even after the film is edited and ready for release. And so these movies are filmed under a working title. Maybe hundreds of people for several months working on a project that doesn t have a real name. Of course, some titles you cannot change. Gone With The Wind could never have been called anything else, because it was based upon one of the best selling books of all time and already had a built in audience; and for that same reason no one would dare alter the titles of movies based upon famous or popular literary works, like the Harry Potter novels or To Kill A Mockingbird. But I know of a movie, filmed in Waxahachie under the working title The 1935 Project - for the events in the movie took place during the Depression- but that title wouldn t have filled the theater seats, so months later the movie was released under the title Places in the Heart. And there was a love story written for the stage- though never performed- in the late 1930s entitled Everybody Comes to Rick s - is anyone familiar with that one- and was the basis
for a movie made in 1942 and released late in that year under another name, a name which took advantage of world events, a movie in which all the action took place in the city of Casablanca, very much in the news as the Allied Forces had invaded Northern Africa just weeks earlier. Well, I could name many more movies, and with a little research novels as well, but the point is that often there may be some uncertainty about what the name of a work of art should emphasize. An uncertainty I felt last Wednesday when I had to give Jan a sermon title to be printed in the bulletin. So I gave her this one, for the sermon was at the time a work in progress. And, in fact, it still is, because the meaning of this sermon text is itself somewhat uncertain: the events and times this passage looks back on, and perhaps looks forward to, are unclear to us, all these end of the world prophecies and references from earlier in chapter 24, and we ourselves are sometimes unsure of what we are to think, what signs we should look for. This passage is a parallel to last week s scripture lesson from Luke, and the first four verses are almost identical in Matthew, Mark and Luke, and I was tempted to draw upon that sermon from last Sunday. But I didn t even look at it, because this 2 nd paragraph, verses 36-44, is so different from Luke s version. Here in Matthew is more uncertainty.
Perhaps like the uncertain times you may have experienced in your life similar to these examples Jesus gives. Here is Noah and the cataclysm- that is the Greek word- which surprised the whole world. We saw the waters come into the homes and businesses of our friends and neighbors here and in Salado just a few weeks ago. Even more dramatically, we watched the floods pour into New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina and beheld the tragedy of the tsunami in 2006 that killed thousands on the islands of the Indian Ocean. Maybe we too, felt the fear and the sorrow of those who lost everything. The coming of the Son of Man will be like that: sudden and hidden from us- unless we are watching closely; violent and deadly for so many. Perhaps you have found yourself in situations and places where destruction has occurred quickly, almost arbitrarily it might seem. People will be going about their normal lives, and one person here- gone, and anothergone. Maybe a car wreck or some other kind of accident, a bolt of lightning may hit one person while the other is unharmed; disease may strike on e person, or what we may call bad luck, and another will be untouched. Or it could be the violence and cruelty of society and the people of the world around us- a drive by shooting, or robbery, or a bomber. This is an example that hits close to home for us: there are bad people out there, and the not knowing may be the worst part. Someone
will be hurt or have their things stolen, or their life taken away, but if they only know when they might yet avoid it. It is the uncertainty that makes it difficult to bear. In Noah s time, when the floods came, all those who were not ready were swept away. Such a descriptive phrase. And the two men in the field- one taken and one left, and the two women grinding- one taken and one left. Are we uncertain which of the two we will be? Those who remain are left to be swept up, as well, by the floods of destruction and death. But the others are taken - a confusing translation, for the sense of the Greek word here is not that they are taken away or abducted, but rather, that they are received. Really, brought to the place where they belong. The Son of Man is coming and receives those who are themselves ready to welcome and worship him. So we must be watchful, paying attention to the signs so that, as verse 33 says, When you see all these things, you may know that he is near. Jesus goes on to say that we can t know the exact time, but it may be enough for us to understand he is near. And if he is close at hand, and if we are ready, that is, if we remain near enough to him, then we may be among those received and not one of
those left, it may be that we will find him to be an ark of safety and deliverance- as he was when he received Noah- so that we are not swept away into destruction. But so much of it seems uncertain, because the signs we are told to watch for and to recognize are mysterious and obscure; and life is difficult and painful and sometimes we may become fearful or weary or uncaring, and violence and hurt and death may instead be the things near at hand. In the midst of the uncertainty all about us, and even within us, hear these sure and confident words, Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. Our names are just working titles- Revelation tells us we will be given new names (2:17), and our lives are works in progress. So let his words be the certainty in our lives: though not just his literal words, but let the truth of his teaching, his ministry, his forgiveness, and his life, be the powerful and immovable force in our lives, so that we might receive his love, and hope and joy even in our trials; and let it be motivation for sharing Christ s love, and living as agents of his mercy. We can read in verse 32 about the fig tree putting on its leaves as a straightforward sign and precursor for the coming summer. But we can also learn the lesson of the fig tree if we take it as a symbol and turn back a couple of pages in
the gospel (21:18ff) to read the story of Jesus cursing a particular fig tree because it did not bear fruit. So should we understand the fig tree as a metaphor for us, and see the danger we may be in if we are not fruitful followers of Jesus? Thus the injunctions to watch and to be ready: does Jesus exhort us here not just to watch for the signs of the end of things, or the signs of his coming, but also and more importantly, to be mindful of our actions, of our behavior, our ethics, and the need for humility and kindness to one another? I do not say this to mean that we should try to create certainty by our works or our own piety or by any selfproclaimed goodness; but rather, to be ready is to possess the idea that he is always coming and that he is always near to us, and to possess the certainty of his goodness and love, that demands we be watchful for ways to share his grace and peace with one another. Let us be fig trees that bring forth leaves and fruit, so that others may see and partake from us the goodness of God. So that others may see and know that Jesus our Lord is very near; he is coming and calling us all to be his.